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The South African delegation attending the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA65) has taken note of reports making rounds in the Malagasy media on the purported meeting between South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, and the delegation from Madagascar at the United Nations (UN).

Meeting in the corridors of the United Nations headquarters, Minister Nkoana-Mashabane expressed South Africa's appreciation to the Malagasy delegation for voluntarily withdrawing from the speakers' list of both the high level plenary on the implementation of the millennium development goals (MDGs) and the general debate of the 65th session of the General Assembly as per the position of both Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU).

The minister reiterated that the African Union and SADC application of sanctions against the de Facto authorities of Madagascar is not about punishing the Malagasy people, but aimed at assisting the country to move faster towards constitutional order and normalcy.

Accordingly, the minister reiterated South Africa's position that there's no shortcut to resolving the crisis in Madagascar save through the roadmap designed by both SADC and the African Union.

The minister also recalled the decision of SADC to open an office in Madagascar to facilitate the SADC mediation process and liaise with the local mediation efforts on the ground.

She thus encouraged the delegation of Madagascar to take full advantage of that office and make effective use of it.